Enchanted to Meet You
by clagjanet
Summary: A little something for the anniversary of SMK's premiere episode in 1983. We all know Lee and Amanda were destined for each other, but maybe there was an extra reason for that. Might be a crossover (but not really), might be AU (but not quite) - can't really decide how to classify it but hope you enjoy it.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: none of these characters belong to me; they belong to Shoot the Moon Enterprises and Warner Bros to whom I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to take them out for a spin and bit of light humour.

* * *

A/N: A crossover that isn't really and that no one asked for. As always, thanks to Lanie Sullivan for the last minute beta job

* * *

 ** _1958_**

"Excuse me, Ma'am, but do you need some help?"

Clara turned to find a small boy with clear hazel eyes staring up at her with a look of concern. "Oh, hello," she said uncertainly, eyes straying around looking for – _Dear me, what is it I'm looking for again?_

"Ma'am?" said the small boy again. "Are you lost?"

"Lost? Oh no, I don't think _I'm_ lost," she answered. "But I think I might have lost someone else." She looked down at the youngster who was still watching her carefully. "Was I with someone when I got here?" she asked him, doubt in her tone.

"Well, I didn't see anyone," he answered thoughtfully, "but I only just got here." He looked around the deserted street as if he might be able to spot someone hiding in the shadows. He held out a small hand and when she took it, he tugged her gently over to a nearby park bench. When they were both seated, he looked at her and said confidently, "My dad always told me that when I was lost, I should stay still because it'll make it easier for whoever's looking for you to find you."

"Oh! Well doesn't your father sound like a clever man!" She peered around in confusion. "Is he here somewhere? Or are you lost too?"

A look of sadness went over the boy's face, wiped clear a few seconds later by a look of determination. "No, I'm not lost. I'm running away from ho-". He stopped abruptly.

"From home?" Clara asked.

"No! This is not home!" he spat out. "This is just where my uncle lives. For now," he added.

"For now?" Clara wasn't quite following what the boy was saying, but she could see that his aura was a mix of the blue of goodness and the orange of grief.

"I live with him now but he keeps moving us," responded the boy. "I hate it. I hate moving – always a new school and a new house and kids who pick on the new kid! I just want to go back to being a normal kid! I want to go back to my house in Washington and I want to stop moving so my parents can find me!" His small voice cracked and he rubbed his arm across his eyes. The orange aura began to glow and suddenly Clara had one of her moments of clarity.

"When did your parents pass?" she asked.

"A couple-a years ago," answered the boy in a hopeless tone. "That's what they said anyway. I don't know – just one day I woke up and they weren't there. They never said goodbye – so what if they're not dead? What if they're somewhere looking for me?" He looked up at her hopefully, but she could see the truthful tinge in the orange that told her he was hoping in vain.

"I think the first place they'd look is with your uncle, don't you? So maybe you should stay with him instead of running away," she said gently.

His shoulders sagged and he leaned back against the bench with a sigh. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Aunt Clara! There you are! We were so worried!" Clara and the boy looked up to see a pretty blonde girl bearing down on them, an expression of concern on her face.

"Oh Samantha! You're who I lost!" exclaimed Clara with relief. "You know, I just got turned around for a second and I just couldn't remember…"

"Yes, Aunt Clara, I know. You forget things sometimes," said the pretty girl, crouching down in front of the bench to take one of her hands.

"But then this nice young man came along and he said we should stay still so you could find us. And you did, so wasn't that clever of him?" She turned to the boy who had gotten to his feet and was staring at her niece with awe. "This is Samantha and this is, uh…"

"Lee," supplied the boy, holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Lee," smiled Samantha, as she too took in the colors that surrounded him. "That was a good idea to stay still. My mother and I have been looking for Aunt Clara everywhere."

"Well, she just looked like she needed help," responded Lee gruffly. "So I thought I could."

"Isn't that amazing, Samantha, Dear? I didn't even know mortals could be so helpful," said Clara absentmindedly. "Especially such little ones."

"Mortals?" said Lee in confusion.

"Oh Aunt Clara mixes up her words sometimes. She just meant children." The beautiful girl smiled at Lee with a twitch of her lips and he instantly felt a feeling of calm come over him.

That calm was shattered a few seconds later at the sound of his uncle's voice. "Lee! Where did you go? I've been looking for you everywhere!" Lee jumped and immediately looked defensive, too young to recognize the note of panicky concern in his uncle's voice.

"I didn't _go_ anywhere!" he answered hotly. "I was just here!"

Robert Clayton turned to the two women with an apologetic expression. "I hope he wasn't bothering you – I'm so sorry if he was." He ignored the way Lee's small hands clenched into fists and the gulping breaths he was taking; he was getting used to the way his nephew burst into spontaneous anger, but he still had no idea how to deal with it.

"He wasn't bothering us at all. In fact, he was being especially helpful, looking after my aunt," murmured Samantha gently.

"Oh yes!" said Clara. "I don't know what I would have done without his help!"

Robert looked back and forth between them in confusion, unable to see how a little boy could have been any use at all. Samantha could see the blue aura that told her of his innate goodness but it was her 350 years of experience and the tired look in his eyes that told her he was feeling overwhelmed.

"My aunt gets confused sometimes," she explained. "Your son-"

"Nephew!" interrupted Robert and Lee simultaneously.

"Nephew," Samantha corrected herself, with sudden understanding. "Your nephew saw that she was confused and looked after her until I came."

"Oh." Robert looked down at the sandy-haired boy who looked so much like his brother. "Good for you, Lee," he said gruffly.

Lee glared back at him, arms folded across his chest now. "Dad wouldn't have been mad at me."

"He would have if you'd run off on him the way you did on me!" Robert couldn't help snapping back at him, frustration finally catching up with the fear he'd felt when he thought he'd lost Lee. He winced when he saw Lee take a step back, looking like he might take off again at any moment.

"Mr. ..uh" Samantha interrupted them.

"Clayton. Sergeant Clayton."

"Sergeant Clayton, would you mind sitting with my aunt for a moment while I go find my mother? I'm just going to run around the block and see if I can spot her and then I'll be right back. Maybe Lee could help me?" She gave him her brightest smile and twitched her lips slightly.

Robert relaxed instantly. "Yes of course, that would be fine." He found himself sitting down on the bench beside the older woman without really knowing why he was doing so.

Samantha held out a hand to Lee. "You seem to be very good at figuring things out; maybe you can help me figure out where my mother's gotten to." She was pretty sure Endora had become bored and simply transported herself out of sight, but she knew this small boy needed to calm down a bit.

Lee shrugged and although he ignored the outstretched hand, he turned to walk beside her willingly enough.

"So you're too big to hold hands with a girl?" she teased him when they were about three-quarters around the block.

Lee glanced up at her from under his cowlick. "I only ever held hands with my mom. She said she liked it when I looked after her by holding onto her." He was flushed, whether with embarrassment or grief she wasn't sure.

She stopped and turned to crouch in front of him, picking up his hand and holding it between hers. "Well, you know, I can tell you're going to grow up to be someone who looks after people. I can see it all around you."

"You mean like a doctor or something?" Lee looked faintly worried.

"Maybe a doctor, but maybe a policeman or something like that," she smiled encouragingly. "Because I can tell you're very brave too."

"You can?" All the hope and disbelief of a small boy was packed into those two words.

"I can. And you know why?" She leaned in and whispered so that only Lee could hear her. "Because I'm a witch," she said with a wink.

Lee tilted his head and stared at her with a skeptical expression. "Nah, you're too pretty," he said finally.

Samantha's green eyes sparkled with amusement "Oh I'm a good witch – there's not really such a thing as a bad witch."

Lee suddenly looked hopeful. "Can you grant wishes then?"

Samantha felt a pang, knowing what he was going to ask. "No, Sweetheart, I can't do anything like that." He looked so forlorn, she went on quickly. "But even though I can't grant wishes, I _can_ give you your own lucky spell."

"What kind of lucky spell?" He looked like he wanted to believe her but wasn't sure about it.

"Well, a spell for luck of course. You did such a good job of keeping Aunt Clara safe that I'd like to make sure you stay safe too!"

"You can do that?"

"I sure can! I'll tell you what though, I'm going to make it so it only starts working when you really need it, because right now I think your uncle is doing a good job of looking after you, isn't he?"

"He's doing alright, I guess" answered Lee grudgingly.

"Good," Samantha nodded. She held out her hand, pinky finger extended. "Now you know, pinky swears are the most binding swear you can make, right?"

"Yeah," replied Lee, uncertain but still putting out his own hand in a mirror image and let her hook fingers with him.

"Okay, now close your eyes and think of the most beautiful thing in the world," Samantha encouraged him, watching as the boy did as she asked, face scrunched up in concentration. She could tell the moment he seized on the right mental image and quickly twitched her lips to cast the spell. "And there you go!"

Lee opened one eye as if he didn't quite believe her but wanted to, desperately. "So I'm under a spell now? Really?"

"Really. Pinky swear." She squeezed her finger around his before letting go and straightening up. "How about we go back and see if my mother has shown up yet?"

"Okay." This time, without thinking, Lee took the proffered hand and let her lead him back to his uncle. Sure enough, Endora had appeared while they'd been gone, standing beside Clara and a thoroughly stunned Robert Clayton.

"Ah, there they are," he spluttered with relief as Lee and Samantha approached.

"So I see," smirked Samantha's mother, enjoying the effect she was having on him.

"Mother, this is Lee. He looked after Aunt Clara for us until we got here," said Samantha, giving her mother a stern look. She didn't approve of the way she toyed with mortals as if they were foolish playthings. Not all mortals were as stupid as she thought – and a few, like these two, were innately good.

"Well isn't that charming," drawled Endora, giving Lee a once-over, then suddenly looking more closely. "Or should I say, charmed?" She cocked an eyebrow at her daughter, fully aware of what she'd done.

"I think it's time we got Aunt Clara home, don't you?" was all Samantha offered in reply. She turned to shake hands with Robert. "You have a fine young man there, Sergeant Clayton. I'm sure he'll make you proud."

"If he turns out anything like his father, I'm sure he will," answered the soldier gruffly. Lee looked up at his uncle with an amazed expression. "It was a pleasure to meet you ladies, but I should be getting this young man home for dinner." He put a hand on Lee's shoulder, relieved when, for once, the boy didn't shake it off immediately.

"It was very nice to meet you," said Lee politely. "Thank you for my lucky charm."

Samantha caught the enquiring look on his uncle's face. "I gave Lee a little souvenir as a thank you. Just a keep-safe, you know."

Robert Clayton wondered if he'd misheard her or if she didn't know the word was 'keepsake' but decided it didn't matter. They said their goodbyes and turned to walk down the street. When Lee glanced back over his shoulder, the trio was gone – almost as if they'd vanished into thin air.

* * *

 ** _1983_**

Lee stumbled along the train platform. Somehow he'd managed to evade the two men chasing him all night but now they'd caught up to him – it looked increasingly like his luck had run out. He was fairly certain they wouldn't be foolish enough to pull a weapon in such a crowded place, but if they caught him, it would be two against one and even if they were as tired as he was, those were still unpleasant odds.

 _I can't get on that train – no escape routes in a moving train… But if I could just get the_ _package_ _on the train… like Munich…_

He began to look around the platform desperately as he zig-zagged through the crowd, trying to pick out the perfect person, the person who wouldn't ask questions, who looked honest, who looked… he squinted at the woman who had just appeared through the parting crowd. Slim, brunette, obviously not hurrying towards a train of her own so maybe more willing to help – and something else, something he didn't have time to analyse… He grabbed her arm and spun her in place, pulling her along with him by sheer momentum until she managed to dig in her heels and stop dead.

"Whahahah – excuse me!" she was snapping at him

"Just walk with me, please," he urged, tugging her arm and glancing past her at the rapidly approaching goons.

She balked immediately, as any sensible person would. "I certainly will not!"

He ramped up the pleading. "Please. I'm in trouble!" When she demurred again and tried to pull away, he tightened his grip and looked into her eyes. Just for a moment he was lost; there was something about her that was so familiar but he just couldn't place it, it was like she was someone he'd met years ago and lost track of. He stammered it out again. "I'm in trouble. Please. . . . _Please_!"

For the longest second he thought she was going to say no even though he was willing her with every fibre of his being to agree. She looked away, then back into his eyes and whatever it was she saw there made her surrender. She stopped struggling to get away, just sighing and asking, "What do you want me to do?"

He shoved the package into her hands before she could change her mind. "Just take this. Get on the train. It's a matter of life and death!" He ignored her squeak of disbelief as she parroted the last three words back to him. "Hand it to a man in a red hat."

She was looking increasingly nervous about having agreed to help him. "Is this for real?" she asked suspiciously.

"Just get on the train, hand it to the man in a red hat. You can get off at the next stop and forget all about this, just do it!" He pushed her towards the train door, then took off running before the goons could figure out he'd gotten rid of the evidence.

The last thing he saw as the goons caught up to him and spun him around was the sight of the brunette hanging out of the door of the moving train, looking horrified.

 _Well if that's the last thing I ever see, at least she was beautiful_ was his last coherent thought.

* * *

Billy was shaking his head in amazement when Lee showed up with the contact information within a day. "Good lord, Scarecrow! How the hell do you do it? You hand off a package to an anonymous woman in a train station with a thousand people in it and you _still_ manage to figure out who she is in less than six hours?"

"Nothing to it, Billy," Lee answered smugly. "She got on the train without a ticket, so she had to register with the transport police at the next station so they had her name and address and because she volunteers with children, she was in the computer and her kids' team is playing tomorrow and I'll be able to search her house and she'll never even have to know what she was involved in!"

"One of these days, your luck is going to run out, Lee. I still can't believe some nameless blonde may yet turn out to be the key to stopping these murders."

"Oh, she wasn't blonde, Billy, she was brunette."

"She was?" Billy actually looked confused. "I don't think I can picture you picking up a brunette."

"I didn't _pick up_ a brunette!" said Lee with exasperation. "I selected a likely candidate to provide aid to an agent in need!"

"A likely candidate who walked off with your package full of evidence," sniped Francine. "Shoulda stuck with your pattern, Scarecrow."

"I don't have a pattern!" said Lee defensively. Billy and Francine gave identical snorts. "I don't!" he added as the other two exchanged eyerolls.

Francine straightened up and gestured up and down her body. "See this? All this, plus no brains, this is your pattern, Scarecrow." When Lee began to protest, she held up a hand to silence him. "I have never seen you date anything but blondes since we met and I've known you- what? Seven, eight years? For you to pick a woman out of a crowd who wasn't a blonde? She had to have been the only woman there."

Lee looked pained while Billy just yelped with laughter.

* * *

Lee began to wonder if his luck was beginning to run out. He'd managed to find his way into the wilds of Arlington suburbia and he'd watched as the brunette from the train station left her house with a passel of kids in her station wagon, obviously headed out to a baseball game. Certain that her house would be empty, he'd slipped into the backyard, and headed for the back door to pick the lock when to his horror, he'd heard a voice inside. Peeking over the windowsill of the open window, he realized there was a middle-aged blonde woman on the phone, animatedly chatting – and definitely stopping him from breaking into the house to hunt for the package.

"No Doris – don't worry about it. Amanda was happy to take Melanie to the game and bring her home again, but she asked me to call and let you know she'd be taking them all to Moby Dick's on the way home so you don't need to worry about having dinner for her… Yes, she promised Phillip a special treat if he managed to get higher than a C on his math test and that's what he picked…. No I don't understand the appeal of it either – the food is terrible but I must say, those car hops are pretty cute in those pirate costumes… Alright then, see you at the next game!"

The woman hung up and began to putter around the kitchen cleaning, obviously going nowhere fast, Lee groaned – time was of the essence, he couldn't search the house now, and he didn't even know when she'd be home so he could approach her directly. Then it hit him - that phone conversation had just told him where he could find this King woman next. Without stopping to think, Lee headed back out of the yard, intent on finding Moby Dick's – whatever that was.

* * *

Moby Dick's was beyond his worst imaginings. He'd occasionally seen ads for places like this during football games on TV but he had no idea they really existed. He'd managed to convince the manager to let him dress up as a crew member, by telling him he wanted to propose to his girlfriend who came there every day and now here he was, dressed in the most ridiculous uniform he'd ever seen in a place full of screaming kids and an animatronic parrot that never seemed to stop shrieking "Pieces of Eight!". If his famous Scarecrow luck could only hold out for one more thing in his life, he prayed it would be that Francine never found out about this little bout of dress-up.

He had just about given up hope when the station wagon he'd been watching for pulled in to one of the bays. He recognized her immediately, not even questioning how he could be so certain after only ever seeing her for a few seconds once before. He just _knew_ this was her. He'd grabbed her order when it came up and prepared to wow her with the legendary Stetson charm. But she hadn't even paused – all he'd managed was "Hi!" and she'd already been reversing out of that parking lot at a speed that would have impressed the trainers at Station One. He'd barely managed to slip his card under a wiper before she'd peeled out of there like the hounds of Hell were nipping at her heels.

"I take it she said no?" said the sympathetic voice of the restaurant manager.

"Heh, heh, yeah," smiled Lee. "I guess I should have known not to surprise her."

"Yeah, good to find out those things before you marry them," agreed the manager.

"Well, I doubt I'll be marrying her," smirked Lee, pulling off the kerchief on his head. "Thanks for letting me try though."

He was on his way back to the Agency in just a few minutes, glad to be back in his own clothes and away from the smell of deep fried clams.

* * *

Lee leaned on the railing watching the lobby like a hawk. He'd managed to hide his overwhelming relief when Mrs. King had actually phoned him. He wouldn't have blamed her entirely if she hadn't – she must have thought he was insane at this point, popping up in front of her like some demented jack-in-the-box. He'd realized that he needed to impress her this time: no disheveled waiter, no tacky pirate costume – no, this time he was going to dress to impress and he was going to be calm and sensible and make her understand that she was wrapped up in matters of national security and…

 _Oh God, I'm an idiot._

He stared down at the woman who had just walked in the front door and who was staring around with a completely nonplussed look on her face. It hadn't been hard to spot her – she was the only one dressed in normal street clothes in a room full of Washington's social elite dressed to the nines in their version of Halloween costumes. He looked down at his tux, then back at her slacks and sweater and sighed. He really only knew a few things for certain about women but one of them is that they liked to be dressed appropriately for the occasion. This was going to take some serious smoothing of ruffled feathers, just when he needed to have her on his side the most. Pasting on his best Scarecrow smile, he headed down the stairs, calling her name.

She looked up with a flicker of relief at seeing a familiar face, but then her face turned stony again as she took in how he was dressed. "Mr. Stetson," she acknowledged him coolly.

 _Uh-oh. She's mad._

"Let's chat somewhere more private." He took her by the arm with more confidence than he felt and began to guide her towards a quiet table in the corner. Waving down a passing waiter, he relieved his tray of two glasses of champagne and waited until she'd taken a sip before gesturing around the room.

"I thought this would be a nice change of pace from our usual encounters. Anyway, we're among friends, so it's a safe place to talk."

Amanda stopped mid-sip and looked around the room, then gave him a skeptical look. "These people are your _friends_?"

Lee glanced around at the hodgepodge of politicians, diplomats and party girls, then back at her with a rueful look. "I'm afraid so." He detected the slightest glint of humour in her eye at his response and went on with a grin. "But maybe I can expand my base." He held his hand out towards her. "How do you? I'm Lee Stetson."

The glint became a full-fledged twinkle and Amanda began to smile as she took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you. I'm Amanda King."

"Well, Mrs. King, I'm enchanted to meet you." Lee looked up from their hands and met her eyes and was lost. He realized she was speaking and tried to get his bearings.

"Are you really?" she was teasing him in a husky laughing tone. "Enchanted to meet me, I mean?"

"Yeah," answered Lee honestly. "I really think I am."


	2. Chapter 2

**_1986_**

There was a ripple of excitement in the group of rookie agents as they waited outside the meeting room where they'd be getting their orientation briefing.

"Are you serious? Scarecrow Stetson is going to be teaching this class?"

"Man, he's a legend. We heard more about him in our recruitment classes than any other agent. He is the luckiest son of a bitch if even half of it is true."

"Yeah – I heard he never fails at _anything_! He escapes everything the Russians throw at him!"

"But his partner is a woman, I heard."

"His partner is a force in her own right, _I heard_ ," interrupted one of the girls.

"Yeah, I heard that too," agreed the only other female classmate. "The way I heard it, he recruited her himself. She was just a civilian on the street and he used the Madrid Maneuver."

"One: it was the Munich Maneuver," corrected an amused voice as they all swiveled to stare at the well-dressed blonde woman surveying them. "And two, yes, she was a civilian, but she is now one of our most respected resources so I suggest you be very careful when discussing her in front of senior agents. And three," and at this point the blonde's voice turned steely, "I would suggest that the first thing each and every one of you learn right now is that gossiping in the hallways where anyone and everyone can hear you is incredibly poor behaviour for people who want to be intelligence agents! So how about you all just turn your attention to reviewing whatever little notes you have in front of you before Agent Stetson gets here? Capische?"

The group of recruits who had wilted under her scathing tone all nodded their heads and shuffled nervously in place.

Francine nodded in satisfaction at their whipped expressions before turning away to hide her smile as she headed towards Billy's office. As she passed Lee, loaded down with an armful of binders, her smile broadened at his exasperated expression. "Go get 'em, Dr. Jones. Apparently your reputation precedes you, so try and ignore the girl with "Love You" written on her eyelids."

Efraim Beaman who happened to be passing gave a bark of laughter at her quip, but Lee just stared at her in confusion, too stressed by this unexpected task to know she was joking. Francine sighed and waved him on. "Good luck with the rookies, Lee."

"Uh, okay. Look, if Amanda shows up, can you tell her to come help me?" Lee asked in a harried tone over his shoulder as he continued down the hallway.

"Will do." Francine met Efraim's eyes as they exchanged a look of understanding.

"They'll eat him alive," grinned Beaman.

"Don't I know it," chuckled Francine. "Wish I could be a fly on that wall."

Lee meanwhile was juggling his way into the meeting room following what appeared to be the youngsters from "Bring your Kid to Work Day" when another young woman came racing up to him.

"Excuse me, Sir? Is this where they're having the orientation lecture?" Before he could even answer, her face suddenly got a very odd look and she stared at him, frozen in place, before starting to smile as if she recognized him from somewhere.

"Ah, yes, yes it is," answered Lee, not certain why she was looking at him so strangely.

The young girl appeared to be struggling to think of something to say and finally settled on, "If you have a minute, could you look over my initial registration sequence cards?" She held out a stack of computer data cards.

Lee held out his hand wordlessly and took the cards, stared at them for a moment, remarking "Well, they, uh, look fine to me." He looked up to find the girl staring at the ground and before he could help himself, ducked his head to check if there was anything written on her eyelids. Reassured that there was nothing, he heaved a silent sigh of relief and shifted from foot to foot. "Anything else I can help you with, Miss…?"

"Stephens" supplied the girl. "Sorry, I was just – uh - looking at your shoes."

"My shoes?" asked Lee in confusion.

"Mmm, my dad has a pair just like them." She looked at him with a beaming smile, which Lee found himself returning with a rueful grin.

"Well, Miss Stephens, that is remarkably observant of you. That'll stand you in good stead in this job, believe me. In fact, it reminds me of someone else who is very good at this job. I'll introduce you some day."

Tabitha Stephens looked up at the man whose aura was still tinged with the unmistakable colour of one of her mother's spells and her smile grew even brighter. "I'll look forward to that."


End file.
